General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: paychecks in pro football [View all]tazkcmo
(7,419 posts)I do agree that professional athletes are in general over valued vs education professionals, fewer people have the capacity to be professional athletes than professors and there are fewer job openings. The NFL has 32 teams with an active roster of 53 players and up to 8 practice squad players. So, 64 x 32 = 3392 nation wide. In comparison, there are 118 Division I schools that can hand out up to 85 football scholarships. 118 * 85 = 10030 and 3392/10030 = .338.
As for hours worked they work over 40 hours per week during most of the actual season.
The work, competition and health risks for an NFL player is much more intense than that for a professor.
Again, I want to stress that I agree we have our priorities backward. Entertainers of all stripes make waaaaay more than educators of all stripes in too many cases. If "Children are our greatest resource" then why do we spend so much money on training them to get maimed in sport or war?